CLS-Chapter 537

Chapter 537:

“Sacred Fire?”

At Wei Yan-ho’s question, Wei Jeong-han nodded gravely.

“What’s that?”

“……It’s a flame that could be called the symbol of the Demonic Cult.”

“Huh? A flame is their symbol?”

“That’s right.”

“How can a flame be a symbol?”

Wei Jeong-han opened his mouth with a somewhat stiff voice.

“What does Buddhism pursue?”

“Buddha.”

Wei Jeong-han looked back at Musan. Then Musan spoke up.

“No, benefactor. These might be difficult words, but to explain as simply as possible for your sake…… we do not follow Buddha.”

“Huh? A monk doesn’t follow Buddha?”

“Yes. What we follow is the Buddhist Law itself. Buddha refers to one who has realized the Buddhist Law.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“It is not. We respect those who have achieved the Buddhist Law, but we don’t expect anything from them. We try to become such people ourselves.”

“You respect masters and try to follow the realm they’ve achieved, but you don’t follow the masters themselves?”

“Exactly.”

Musan smiled as if pleased. For Wei Yan-ho to understand this so perfectly.

Wei Jeong-han also nodded and continued speaking.

“Taoism is the same. They revere the Primordial Heavenly Worthy and serve the Supreme Old Lord, but…… what they want to follow isn’t the immortals who have ascended to the Tao, but the Tao itself.”

“Hmm, it’s difficult.”

“The Demonic Cult is the same. They don’t serve a god. What they serve is the Sacred Fire.”

“What’s the Sacred Fire?”

“A flame that accepts everything.”

Wei Jeong-han spoke with a calmness that felt somewhat eerie.

“The Demonic Cult is a religion of the forsaken. The Sacred Fire accepts even such forsaken ones without discrimination. Those who believe in the Demonic Cult serve the Sacred Fire in life and believe they become one with the Sacred Fire in death. Those who lived before, those who died, those who will die…… all of them eventually become one within the Sacred Fire. Simply put, the Sacred Fire is the place they must eventually return to. Do you understand what this means?”

Wei Yan-ho nodded.

“I don’t understand at all.”

“……Never mind.”

It would be easier to explain it to a cow.

“Anyway, so that thing is this Sacred Fire?”

“That’s right.”

“It just looks like fire to me?”

Wei Jeong-han shook his head.

“Whether that’s truly the Sacred Fire or just a flame doesn’t particularly matter. What’s important is the fact that the Demonic Cult members regard that flame as the Sacred Fire.”

Wei Yan-ho let out an “Hmm” of admiration.

Indeed, whatever that was, what would it matter? What’s important is that the flame was something the Demonic Cult members treasured and kept carefully hidden, and Wei Yan-ho had come here to smash what the Demonic Cult members held dear.

“It would have been nice if it were a treasure.”

Wei Yan-ho puffed out his cheeks.

Even if it wasn’t exactly riches, it would have been good if it had a form that could be sold.

Though merchants wouldn’t readily buy Demonic Cult items, he could have gotten a good price from the Divine Investigation Bureau.

Erasing the beautiful plan he’d drawn in his mind, Wei Yan-ho sighed.

“So we just need to destroy that and leave?”

“……Let’s think about this.”

“Again, now?”

“That’s really not an ordinary flame. Extinguishing it would be like digging up the grave where I should be buried and pouring filth on it, from the Demonic Cult’s perspective.”

“Wow, that’s harsh.”

There was no need to think deeply. In this barren environment, it wasn’t hard to imagine how terrible it would be to take away the resting place from those who had endured with the single hope of returning to the Sacred Fire.

Even someone who could cheerfully share drinks with their father’s killer would probably foam at the mouth and charge forward.

Wei Jeong-han had only thought there would be something important here, but never imagined it would be the Sacred Fire. That’s why he was flustered now.

“But it’s not particularly a big deal. We were already enemies anyway.”

“We’re not the problem.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t know how frightening those who have lost their place to return become. If we extinguish this, the Demonic Cult won’t need to retreat.”

“Geez……”

Wei Yan-ho understood why Wei Jeong-han was hesitating.

For them, the headquarters wasn’t this building but this Sacred Fire itself. When headquarters disappears, it’s not that they lose a place to return to—when the Sacred Fire disappears, they lose a place to come back to.

There’s no particular reason to return to Xinjiang. How frightening would believers be whose god has been denied? Those who have lost their peace don’t fear death and fight.

“They’ll probably try to fight to the last person. Whether they win or lose.”

“Surely they wouldn’t go that far.”

“They probably would. You don’t know what fanatics mean, so you can say that. At least as far as I know, there were no fanatics deeper than the Demonic Cult.”

“Ugh……”

It felt somewhat chilling.

“Then what do we do?”

“That’s……”

Wei Jeong-han was also at a loss.

“What should we do?”

Wei Yan-ho’s cheeks puffed up.

“Is that what a person in charge should say?”

“Who’s in charge? Me? Since when was I in charge! You’re the one in charge!”

“When my father’s here, why would I be in charge!”

“When did you ever treat me like a father?”

“That’s not what’s important here.”

“And! If I’m your father, then I’m your father—why should I take responsibility? You’re clearly the one in charge!”

“Geez……”

Wei Yan-ho pointed a finger at himself.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Wei Yan-ho said with a blank expression.

“I’ve never taken responsibility for anything in my entire life, and I’m supposed to be in charge?”

“……”

Wei Jeong-han’s eyes wavered.

He had gotten caught up in the atmosphere. If you think about it, even a three-year-old child would know how stupid it would be to put Wei Yan-ho in a position of responsibility.

“L-let’s cancel that statement.”

“Good thinking.”

“Anyway, I don’t really know what to do about this. It’s strange to come all this way and leave empty-handed, but if we touch that thing, the aftermath……”

The Sacred Fire was sensitive enough that Wei Jeong-han, called the Mad Dog of the Battlefield and the Righteous Hero Sword, feared the consequences.

“Then the decision’s made.”

However, Wei Yan-ho, who lacked understanding of the Sacred Fire, was thinking lightly about it.

“Let’s just go.”

“Huh?”

Wei Yan-ho shrugged.

“If our purpose in coming here was to tie up their feet, isn’t this enough?”

Wei Jeong-han slowly nodded.

It wasn’t wrong. They had already burned the headquarters. And there’s a Sacred Fire beneath that headquarters. The Demonic Cult members are probably returning at full speed right now.

So wouldn’t this be enough?

Right now they were stirring up a hornet’s nest. If they just took some honey, the bees might calm down, but the moment they kill the queen, they’ll start going crazy.

“Hmm……”

Wei Jeong-han looked at the Sacred Fire with a somewhat uncomfortable expression.

‘We’re just going to leave this here?’

It wasn’t an easy decision. This was a place they could barely reach by taking advantage of the enemy’s absence. Unless the Demonic Cult perishes, no outsider will ever set foot in this place again.

And they’re going to leave this as is?

When there’s only one chance?

Wei Jeong-han couldn’t help but hesitate. His head understood that Wei Yan-ho’s words were right. But people aren’t creatures that move only with their heads.

How the Demonic Cult members who lost the Sacred Fire would move was just speculation. If things work out well, those who lost their symbol and the object of their worship might fall into chaos.

Then wouldn’t it be worth taking the risk?

“Wouldn’t it be better to get rid of it?”

Wei Jeong-han’s head turned sharply.

The person who said that was Jang-il. Jang-il looked at the Sacred Fire with a serious expression.

“That’s like the source of the Demonic Cult. They might get angry and struggle right now, but ultimately, if they lose that, the Demonic Cult can’t exist anymore, right? At least they’ll weaken. Looking at it long-term, shouldn’t we eliminate it?”

“I think the same.”

Zhuge Moon-in provided supporting fire.

“I’ve heard that the Sacred Fire is irreplaceable to Demonic Cult members. Seeing that, I think I understand why Demonic Cult members were so loyal to their sect. Do you understand? To them, that flame is a living god.”

“Ah……”

“If Buddha appeared in the world, everyone would believe in Buddhism. Because you can’t help but believe when you see a god before your eyes. The abnormal solidarity of the Demonic Cult can be explained by that one thing. To those who haven’t accepted it, it’s just a mysterious flame, but to those in the Demonic Cult, that’s god itself. When there’s a god before your eyes, what need is there to spare your life, when paradise after death is guaranteed?”

Everyone nodded.

“So we must extinguish it.”

Zhuge Moon-in said firmly.

“The beggar’s words are correct. If we eliminate the Sacred Fire now, things might become more difficult immediately. But I guarantee you, there won’t be another rise of the Demonic Cult.”

“Hmm……”

Wei Jeong-han also nodded.

The Demonic Cult and the Central Plains had been fighting for hundreds of years.

The last war was just twenty years ago, but before that, and even before that, wars had continued.

Even if the Central Plains manages to stop the Demonic Cult this time, if they can’t completely annihilate them, war will continue again. And again.

They will eternally covet the Central Plains, and the Central Plains will eternally refuse to give them land.

‘A chance to end the war!’

Those words struck Wei Jeong-han’s heart.

“Amitabha.“

Musan quietly spoke up.

“I don’t understand logic well. But one thing is certain—I feel wickedness from that flame.”

Musan said with an unusually serious expression.

“It’s a flame that shouldn’t exist in this world. I think it would be right to eliminate it.”

“I also think it’s not right to come all this way and just go back.”

Peng Dao-ji also agreed with everyone.

So ultimately, Wei Jeong-han had no choice but to look at Wei Yan-ho again.

“Yan-ho, no matter how I think about it……”

“Tsk.“

At that moment, Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue.

“You’re bewitched.”

“Huh?”

“Close your eyes.”

“……What are you talking about?”

“Close your eyes and circulate your qi. Your eyes are clouded with evil energy right now.”

“We’re fine.”

“If you’re fine, then just try it once. You won’t lose anything.”

“Hmm……”

Wei Jeong-han and the others obediently circulated their qi. Wei Yan-ho wouldn’t make them do anything harmful.

Those who completed a light Small Circulation opened their eyes.

‘Nothing’s changed?’

“Why should we extinguish that?”

“Well……”

Wei Jeong-han closed his mouth.

Why did they have to extinguish it?

There were reasons and logic. But those reasons felt completely different now.

Enduring the present for the future is excellent logic. But why didn’t they consider that if you can’t overcome the present, there is no future?

If the Demonic Cult pushes the Central Plains while risking their lives, the damage will be that much greater. Could you tell the dead that they were noble because they sacrificed for the future?

“What is this……”

“I told you, you were bewitched.”

Wei Yan-ho looked at the flame with hard eyes.

“That thing is no joke.”